Joey sat in the kitchen with Nicky and Alex working on an arts and crafts project. Bits and pieces of red, white, and blue construction paper were strewn across the table along with various glue bottles, glitter pens, and pairs of scissors.
"Alrighty, boys, do you know what tomorrow is?" Joey inquired excitedly.
One of the twins merely shrugged, and the other held up his hands, and said, "we don't know!"
Joey chuckled. "Well, tomorrow is the Fourth of July! That means it's America's birthday, so we're going to celebrate with a big party! How would you boys like to help me make decorations for the backyard?"
"Yeah!" The toddlers exclaimed in unison.
"That's great! Now, since it's America's birthday, we're gonna decorate using the three colors on this American flag, okay? Do you know what these colors are?" Joey asked, pointing to the miniature American flag he was waving in his hand.
"Red!" Nicky cried.
"And blue!" added Alex.
"Good! And this is white," Joey explained, pointing to a star on the flag.
"Joey, who is America?" Nicky asked.
"Yeah, and how old is she?" His twin brother wanted to know.
"Oh, well, you see boys, America isn't a person. It's the country we live in. Tomorrow is all about celebrating what a great place it is and how lucky we are to live here."
"So there's no birthday cake?"
Joey shook his head.
"And no birthday presents?"
"Nope, sorry boys."
"Bummer!" said Alex as he climbed down from his chair.
"Yeah. Double bummer!" Nicky echoed, following his brother.
The two boys ran toward the kitchen door giggling mischievously.
"Hey, get back here, you two!" Joey grinned as he chased the twins into the living room, followed closely by Comet. Rocket the kitten trailed behind with a piece of a red streamer stuck to his tail.
Danny stood in front of the grill in the backyard sorting through various packages of meat while his wife rested beside him in one of the lounge chairs.
"Okay, we have two dozen hamburgers, two dozen hotdogs, and grilled chicken. There's also macaroni salad, potato salad, and Jell-O salad. Cupcakes, blueberry pie, apple pie…" Danny trailed off, deep in thought, trying to remember if he'd forgotten anything.
"Gee, Danny, are you sure we'll have enough food for everyone?"
Danny rolled his eyes at his wife, and she chuckled.
"Well, you just never know around here! There's the ten of us, plus Jesse's parents and my mom. It's a shame that your mother couldn't make it this time," Danny commented as he started up the grill.
"Yeah, well, since she's coming in just a few weeks to help out with the baby, it didn't really make sense for her to come now. But don't worry, Sweetheart, she'll be here for three whole weeks next month! Won't that be fun?" Vicky grinned, though her voice was dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh, joy," Danny said dryly.
Vicky reached over to swat him on the arm, but Danny quickly stopped her.
"Whoa, whoa, easy, Honey! You're already pushing it by coming downstairs to sit outside with us. You just sit back and relax, okay?" He leaned over and kissed Vicky on the forehead.
Vicky frowned. "Are you saying this out of genuine concern for me and the baby, or are you just trying to avoid the wrath of your pregnant wife's hormones?"
"Oh, well, of course, uh - " Danny stuttered nervously.
Fortunately for Danny, Jesse and Becky then came into the backyard with their arms full of shopping bags.
"Hey, guys, you're home just in time!" Danny exclaimed. "Dinner should be ready in about an hour. What's with all the shopping bags?"
Jesse struggled to stammer out a response and shot his wife an anxious glare.
"Oh! Well, we just had to run out and get some new Fourth of July outfits for the boys," Becky filled in. "The ones from last year didn't fit. You know kids these days. They're always growing like weeds!" Becky chortled awkwardly and quickly retreated inside with the bags.
"Jess, is everything okay?" Danny wondered. "You two seem a little off lately."
Jesse quickly waved his hand to brush off Danny's concern. "Nah, everything's fine. You know how Becky is when it comes to the boys. She's just a little emotional with them starting school soon and all. It's no big deal! Are the boys inside with Joey?" He asked, trying not to make it too obvious that he was looking for a quick way out of the conversation.
Vicky nodded. "I think they just went down for a nap. Jesse, are you sure nothing's wrong?"
"Look, I said everything's fine, alright?!" Jesse snapped before hurrying inside after his wife.
"Something is definitely up with those two," Danny said.
Vicky quickly nodded in agreement. "I'll try to talk to Becky alone this afternoon and see if I can get anything out of her. You and Joey can talk to Jesse."
Danny smirked. "Tag-team meddling! I love it!" He reached over to give Vicky a high five.
Back inside, the Katsopolises were snickering with relief as they went through the various shopping bags on the kitchen table.
"Do you think they bought it?" Becky asked, unable to wipe the grin from her face.
"I think so," her husband said with a smirk. "They probably think we're fighting, though, since acting angry was the only way I could think of to hide this grin!" He pointed to his own plastered smile.
"Just think," said Becky as she wrapped her arms around Jesse's neck, "In a few weeks, we'll be back on a plane to Mexico to go pick up our daughter!"
"Elisa Maria Katsopolis. Beck, how perfect is it that we're adopting a kid named Lisa Marie?!"
Becky rolled her eyes, but she was still grinning from ear to ear. "Too perfect!" She purred, tilting her forehead to lock her lips with Jesse's.
"Have mercy!" Jesse whispered.
Becky pulled away from the embrace and began sifting through one of the bags on the table. She picked up a baby pink sundress covered with embroidered sunflowers.
"Oh, Jess, she's gonna look so cute in all this stuff!" Becky gushed. "Can't you just picture her running around the backyard with Michelle and the boys in this?"
Jesse nodded. "Yeah, you know, Beck, I've been thinking about that. I mean, we are about to have three kids after all. Don't you think it might be time to look into getting our own place?"
"I guess it is going to be a little crowded once Elisa and the new baby get here." Becky sighed. "But, I mean, Jess, this is our home! It's the only home the boys have ever known. Do we really want to take them away from that right now with everything else that's about to change in their lives?"
Jesse pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. "I know, but come on, three kids in that tiny little attic? Three kids sharing a room may not be a big deal right now, but what about when they get older?" He pulled Becky in to sit on his lap. "I think my little girl is going to want her own space at some point."
"She's already got you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she?"
"Pfft! I don't know why you're so surprised," Jesse quipped. "You've seen how I am with the girls!"
"And that's one more reason buying a house right now isn't the best idea. You might actually buy her a pony if we had room!" she teased.
"I better go upstairs and put these clothes away before anyone sees them. I wish we didn't have to wait to tell everybody," She lamented.
"I know, Beck, but I just don't want to jinx anything, alright? You know what they told us at the agency. With all this red tape and stuff, something could go wrong at any minute."
He stood up and wrapped his arms around Becky. "Just think about how excited everyone's gonna be next month when we come back from a weekend getaway with a new member of the family."
"I suppose you're right," said Becky. She gathered the shopping bags and headed up the stairs.
As Becky left, Joey and Wendy came in from the living room, laughing, with their arms around each other.
"Hey Jess, you're back! The boys are napping in the attic. What were you two up to anyway?"
"Oh, we were just doing some last-minute shopping for the barbecue. What about you two?" Jesse eyed them suspiciously. "You look awfully happy for two people who spent the past two hours chasing around twin toddlers. What's up?" Jesse asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Oh, well…" Joey hesitated, glancing from Jesse to Wendy and back again.
"We were just laughing at something funny Nicky said this morning," Wendy quickly filled in. "He found a crack in the sidewalk, and he called it a 'quack' and started quacking like a duck. It was so cute!" Wendy giggled and Joey laughed along with her.
"Yeah, it was just one of those "You had to be there" moments!" Joey clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Anyway, I'm gonna go see if Danny needs any help with the grill." Joey brushed past Jesse and went out the backdoor.
"And I need to go check on Ginger!" Wendy hurried upstairs without looking Jesse in the eye.
Jesse leaned back against the kitchen counter and scratched his chin. "Those two are definitely hiding something!" He snapped his fingers and followed Joey into the backyard.
Later that afternoon the backyard was packed with Tanners and Katsopolises as the Annual Tanner Family Independence Day Barbecue was in full swing. After getting Nicky and Alex settled with their plates at the kids' table, Becky snuck away to join Vicky, carefully taking a seat at the end of her lounge chair.
"So, are you going to try to beat Joey's record in the pie-eating contest later?" She asked eagerly. "When I was pregnant with the twins, I beat him by a whole minute!"
Vicky chuckled as she took a spoonful of potato salad. "You really think I could beat him? I'm eating for half as many babies as you were. Besides, my heartburn is bad enough as it is!"
She cringed as she reached over to grab her glass of iced tea from the end table and took a long sip.
Becky laughed. "Oh, I bet you could still take him! You're a lot further along than I was." She patted Vicky's stomach affectionately. "Plus, that little boy of yours has quite the appetite. This is your third helping of Claire's potato salad."
"Oh, I know. Can you imagine what it'll be like once he's a teenager? It's gonna be Steve all over again!" Vicky shuddered at the thought and both women giggled.
"Hey, is everything okay with you and Jesse? You've both been acting strange since we got home from the cruise."
Becky quickly looked down at her plate, pushing the remainder of her baked beans around with her fork. "We've just had a lot going on this summer. With the boys starting preschool in a few weeks and both of us being so busy at work, we've been a little out-of-sync lately. That's all."
Vicky nodded and pursed her lips. "Well, if there's anything you want to talk about -"
"Vicky, we're fine! Look, I appreciate that you're so concerned, but this is just something that we need to work out between the two of us. We've gone through this before when Jesse was struggling to get a record deal. It's just a rough patch. It'll blow over like it always does."
Vicky tilted her head sympathetically. "I can definitely relate to being out-of-sync. When I was living in Chicago, there were moments when I thought for sure Danny and I weren't going to be able to make it work. I even thought about ending things altogether at one point. Would've been the stupidest mistake of my life." Vicky smiled and peered lovingly over at her husband, who was seated at one of the picnic tables with Jesse and Joey.
Becky followed Vicky's gaze, turning her head back over her shoulder to look at the guys.
Over at the picnic table, Danny was putting Jesse through a similar interrogation with help from Joey and Grandpa Nick, though Nick was doing less than helping.
"Y'know, Son, I gotta hand it to you," said Nick, "Too many couples these days air their dirty laundry for anyone who's willing to listen. Problems in a marriage should stay between a man and a woman," Nick said as he dabbed some barbecue sauce off his lip with a napkin.
"Mom tell her hairdresser about the car you bought without asking her?" Jesse guessed.
"I swear, every time I go to pick her up at the salon, this guy is on my back for something! One week it's the car, the next week he's telling me I need to buy her flowers more! We've been married for over thirty years. I'm don't need to go out and spend ten bucks on something that'll be dead in a week just to prove that I love her!" Nick ranted.
Jesse sat back and folded his arms across his chest. "Should've gone to Alejandro," he muttered.
"You know I can't afford that guy's prices!"
"But you can afford that new pickup truck?"
Nick rolled his eyes. "Oh, fine, take your mother's side!"
"Well, if you had used my family discount, you could have taken her to Alejandro and you wouldn't be having this problem! Alejandro never asks clients about personal matters. That's part of what makes him so great. His focus is solely on his craft." Jesse proudly brushed his fingers through his hair to prove his point.
"Alright, you two, that's enough," Danny interjected. "Now Jess, your dad does have a point about the whole airing dirty laundry thing, but we're your family, not some nosy hairdresser! We just want you to know that you can always come to us if you're having trouble, even if you just need a listening ear."
"I don't need a listening ear, alright?!" Jesse exploded as he jumped up from the picnic table, causing everyone in the backyard to turn and look at him. "What I need is for all of you to mind your own business!" He huffed. "Becky and I aren't even fighting. We're… uh -"
"We're adopting!" Becky announced. She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, Jess, but with the way they've been badgering us, they would have gotten it out of one of us eventually." She walked over and wrapped her arms around her husband.
Jesse sighed. "You're right, Beck. I should have known we wouldn't be able to keep a secret from any of these guys."
"Wait, you guys are having another baby?!" DJ exclaimed.
"Not exactly," said Becky. "She's four years old and her name is Elisa. We met her at a children's shelter in Mexico, and for the past few weeks, we've been working on the paperwork to officially adopt her. We should be able to bring her home next month!"
The whole family cheered and surrounded Jesse and Becky with a group hug.
"Oh, Nick, we're going to be grandparents again!" Irene squealed as she grabbed her husband's chin with both hands and gave him a smooch.
"Does this mean you forgive me for buying the new truck?" Nick asked.
"Are you kidding? Nick, we're about to have six grandkids! We're going to need something much bigger than that truck." Irene sighed. "I'll go with you to the dealer on Monday to trade it in."
Nick smiled softly and kissed his wife again.
"Well, since we're telling secrets," Said Joey, "I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you all that, uh, I'm moving to Los Angeles." He stood behind Wendy and wrapped his arms around her chest.
A hush fell over the crowd and their excited grins were replaced with confused looks.
"Wait, what?!" DJ exclaimed.
"You're moving out?" Stephanie echoed.
"Joey, no!" Michelle ran over and hugged Joey's leg. "You can't leave!" She cried.
"Joey, what's going on?" Danny asked.
Joey sat back down at the picnic table, this time facing outward towards the family.
"You remember how I met that talent agent on the cruise to Baja?"
The family nodded.
"Well, I met with him, and the meeting went great, so he took me on as a client. Then, a couple of weeks ago I went on this audition for the lead role in a new sitcom and I got the part!" Joey exclaimed.
"Joey, that's great!" Danny embraced his best friend and his daughters joined in.
"Yeah, Joey, you're gonna be on TV!" Michelle exclaimed.
"And I found a job at the Los Angeles Zoo," Wendy explained, "So we're moving in together!" Wendy smiled nervously and scanned the group to gauge their reactions.
"Wendy, you're not -?"
"Mom!" Wendy scolded.
Claire put up her hands. "Sorry, sorry! I just had to ask because, well, you know." She nodded towards her son and daughter-in-law.
"Joey, we're all really happy for you. For both of you," said Danny. "I just can't believe you're moving out!"
"I can't believe it, either" Joey replied. "But this is my dream! I've spent all these years working on my comedy and it's finally paying off. I know it seems sudden to all of you, but with Danny getting married and the new baby coming, and since DJ is going to be graduating and going off to college next year, I figured now was the right time to leave."
Stephanie wiped a tear from her eye. "We're gonna miss you so much!"
The three sisters ran to embrace Joey again.
Joey nodded and blinked back a few tears. "I am too. You guys are my family!"
He looked around the backyard at the rest of the group, his gaze lingering a little longer on Jesse and Becky.
"Sorry to steal your thunder, guys."
Jesse sat down next to Joey and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Nah, don't worry about it! We'll have plenty of time to celebrate when Elisa comes home." He slapped Joey's back and leaned in for a slight side hug.
"Well, we certainly have a lot to celebrate today," said Danny. "So, who wants pie?!"
A/N: No, I didn't forget about Stephanie and Rusty. I just couldn't fit it into this chapter. Sorry! You'll find out what happens with them in the next one. Thanks for reading! :-)
